If you’ve felt like cyberattacks are everywhere in 2024, you’re not imagining things. This year has seen a surge in these threats, hitting both commoners and big organizations. The first half of 2024 has been dominated by ransomware attacks and data breaches left and right! Attacks are no longer occurring behind the scenes – they’re out in the open, showing just how critical it is to ramp up our cybersecurity efforts. In this blog, we cover the biggest cyberattack threats of 2024 to watch out for!
3 Big Cyber Attacks That 2024 Witnessed
2024 is only halfway through and has already witnessed over 30000 data breaches worldwide, some big, some not so big. Here are the 3 significant cyber attacks we saw this year and what they tell us:
- Attack on ChangeHealth
Take the February ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, the UnitedHealth subsidiary. The hack took down the nation’s largest healthcare payment system, creating financial turmoil that rippled across the spectrum from major hospitals to solo practices.
This incident of cyber attack caused major chaos in the U.S. healthcare system for weeks, blocking many pharmacies and hospitals from processing claims and receiving payments. Then, in May, the Ascension health system faced a similar attack, which forced it to redirect emergency care from several of its hospitals.
- Attack on Ivanti
In January, there were 2 severe zero-day vulnerabilities in Ivanti’s widely used Connect Secure VPNs. Researchers found that thousands of Ivanti VPN devices were compromised, including those belonging to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Mitre, a major provider of federally funded R&D and a key player in cybersecurity frameworks.
- SOHO Routers Attack
In February 2024, the FBI reported that a China-linked group, known as Volt Typhoon, had taken control of “hundreds” of small office/home office (SOHO) routers across the U.S. Their goal was to target U.S. critical infrastructure providers, including those in communications, energy, water, and transportation.
Later that month, the FBI also thwarted a separate campaign by Russia-aligned hackers, who had similarly hijacked “hundreds” of SOHO routers. The Russian intelligence agency GRU was behind these attacks, attempting to use the routers as a botnet for espionage purposes.
Top 6 Cybersecurity Threats in 2024
Earlier this year, the NSA, FBI, and CISA warned of a Chinese group (called the Volt Typhoon) of targeting IT networks that are crucial to the US infrastructure. Such cyberattacks have also been a significant sight on both sides of the Ukraine-Russian war.
The more you know, the more you will realize how valuable an ethical hacking career is going to be in the coming years. Here are the 5 biggest cyber threats of 2024:
- AI cyber threats
AI has undeniably transformed the landscape of cyber threats. AI is helping criminals swiftly analyze security systems to pinpoint vulnerabilities in order to exploit them.
Cybercriminals can now automate their attacks. What does this mean? More sophisticated attacks and more frequent! We saw a more proactive stance on security in 2024 post this shift.
Phishing attacks are the biggest cyber threats in 2024, for example. It has become more sophisticated and personalized. Businesses are noticing the sophistication of phishing attacks over the past 2 years.
AI is still in its nascent stage and still doing significant damage. But once it reaches its full potential, we will be left speechless by the complexity that comes with integrating AI in cyberattacks!
- Trojan Horses
Do you know about the famous Trojan horse from the Greek mythology? A Trojan Horse is a way to sneak into a computer disguised as something harmless.
In fact, Ukraine’s government entities were targeted by Remcos Trojan attacks as part of a large cyberespionage campaign this year. This was one of the biggest cybercrime incidents this year!
Here are the common types of Trojan viruses:
- Backdoor Trojans: These allow attackers to control a computer remotely.
- Downloader Trojans: These viruses automatically download additional malicious software once online.
- Ransom Trojans: These install ransomware that locks users out of their systems and files.
- Mailfinders: These steal email information and use it to send out spam messages.
- Cloud Attacks
The “cloud” has revolutionized the digital world with security features that often surpass on-premise servers. However, it’s not foolproof. Check Point reports a 154% rise in cloud cyber attacks in 2024.
Even a minor misconfiguration can lead to major breaches. Did you know that Toyota experienced a huge breach in 2023 affecting 260000 customers due to a cloud setup error!
- Ransomware
Ransomware is one of the biggest online threats of 2024, at least financially! With this, attackers can lock you out of your software or file until you pay a hefty ransom. While ransomware is not a new problem. It has been there for ages. But the worst part is the ransom amount (see below)!
From 2023 to this year, the average ransom demand has soared by a whopping 500%! It jumped from $400K to a staggering $2M this year. In fact, the average downtime after a ransomware attack can go as long as 17 business days – think of the loss in conducting business!
- State-Sponsored Attacks
One of the most serious cybersecurity threats comes when governments are put under the hood of hackers! State-sponsored attacks are (you guessed it right!) – cyber warfare between two nations’ governments or organizations. As we see global tensions rise post the Ukraine-Rusia war, these attacks have become more common. Sometimes governments are making use of proxy groups to fight these wars on the frontline.
These attacks can have various motives like:
- Stealing sensitive information from military, business, and government entities
- Spreading propaganda news
- Disrupting government or military operations
Conclusion
There will be no better time to get into the cybersecurity field than today. If you keep track of all the yearly incidents, you can easily put 2 and 2 together to see the massive rise in sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks over just a couple of years. If you are looking to
switch to IT, this is your sign to enroll in gold-standard cybersecurity and ethical hacking courses and triple your salary this decade.
EducationNest offers the best cybersecurity training programs to make you proficient in ethical hacking. Our programs are taught at a level that you can understand and we ensure you gain the most relevant and practical knowledge without breaking your bank. So reach out to us today!
